There are many activities people seek to enjoy, such as outings to parks or attendance at outdoor and indoor sporting events. Accommodating clean, dry, warm and comfortable seating in an easy and satisfactorily adequate manner is always problematic.
For activities such as indoor and outdoor sporting events, camping, picnicking, etc., insufficient formal seating is available. Spectators often sit on lawn chairs or on the ground. In such situations, a blanket is commonly used to provide comfort while seated.
When seating accommodation is provided at events or in recreational settings, it is often in the form of bleachers, chairs, or benches of plastic, metal or wood. Such accommodations are generally quite uncomfortable and can often be cold, dirty and or damp. This may diminish overall enjoyment of the activity and may deter individuals from attending outdoor events, including individuals who are elderly or frail.
When attending an outdoor event, an individual may gather a multitude of various items necessary for user comfort or protection, such as blankets, seat cushions, and hand and head warming garments. Transportation of these items may become a considerable burden to the user, and loose items may be forgotten or lost at the event.
Multipurpose combination articles are currently available for improving comfort in outdoor seating situations. Such articles may be self-storing, having manual fasteners such as zippers, snaps and/or straps for containment, and may contain pockets for storing additional items.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,881 provides an article that allows the user one of three functional options. The article may be converted to a stadium lap blanket that may include one or more corner pockets for temporarily storing small items, or may be used as a rain covering with storable hood. A closable compartment is provided by means of hook and pile fastening material, and the article may be used as a seat cushion or transported if the entire unit is folded in a predetermined manner, secured by fastening and extending an elongated retaining strap around the body of the article.
Another example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,245, which provides a portable pillow/lounge set convertible to and from a tote bag with handles. A ground cover sheet is folded and fastened at multiple points to form the generally flat tote bag having a plurality of article-holding compartments of which are also formed by the multiple folding and fastening points. A detachable inflatable pillow and cover sheet are provided, both of which require additional mounting and fastening to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,183,418 provides a convertible coverlet and pillow in which the coverlet may be folded and zipped within the pillow for transportation. Detailed instructions are provided for precise folding and zippered storing of the coverlet within the pillow.
Other examples can be found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,611,899; 3,477,552; 3,381,306; 5,588,749; 5,454,125; 6,353,933; 5,921,626; and 4,190,918.
It is therefore desirable to provide a versatile combination seating comfort article that is compact, simple to manipulate, transport, and use.